BOOK I

Chapter I: Future Decided

THREE YEARS LATER

March 19th

As the plane sat idle on the tarmac and flight attendants strolled between aisles, securing overhead compartments and passenger seating arrangements, Alice Cullen was sure she should have booked first class tickets from New York to Florence instead. She couldn't - for the death of her - concentrate on Edward's suicide attempts, placate Bella's slow descent into madness, and the hundreds of voices surrounding her! Not to mention Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper were probably trying to reach her while her phone was on airplane mode!

"He keeps changing his mind," Alice mutters to Bella in a low voice. "Going on a killing spree, attacking the Volturi guard, lifting a car in the middle of the plaza..."

"I can't believe him!" Bella wrung her hands around in a frustrated outburst. "Oh, like it's perfectly fine to leave Bella unprotected, so let's forget about her! But the damn moment he finds out I've 'died' he has the audacity to be the victim? Maybe don't leave if you can't be responsible about it, Edward!"

"Shh!" Alice threw a pointed look at the young woman seated beside Bella near the plane window. Bella stills, shifts awkwardly, and apologizes to the woman beside her with a sheepish look.

"It's fine." The young woman assures Bella with a small smile. "I'm pretty sure whatever the guy did, he deserves your anger."

"Anger doesn't even come close." Bella muttered, almost to herself, until she looked up to the woman again. Her lips parted in awe. "Um..."

The woman beside her, Bella had decided in her head, almost reminded her of Esme. Just like Edward's mother, she had wavy brown hair and fringes framing her face. There was a maternal air about her disposition, affectionately beautiful, in a delicate kind of way. But that's where all their similarities ended. Because this woman had a tanned complexion, as if she'd been traveling the tropics for a while, and brown eyes instead of gold. And definitely not American. She looked regal, but there was a certain softness... Maybe this was what she would look like if she became a vampire herself—

Bella almost asked but bit her tongue. Instead, she held out her hand. "Sorry, I'm really usually this awkward... My name's Bella Swan."

"I'm Altheia," The woman offered in amusement as she shook Bella's hand. Bella, noting the warm temperature of Altheia's hand, recognized the name. She heard Alice let out a small gasp beside her but ignored it.

"Aletheia? As in, Greek?"

"Yes, actually," Altheia was impressed. "Aletheia, as in, Greek for truth. My parents loved the language."

"I only know because I read too much of the classics," Bella admitted, suddenly feeling shy. She gestured to the real vampire beside her. "This is Alice Cullen."

"Uh-huh... Is Alice okay?"

Bella turned to Alice, only to find the vampire's eyes glazed over. Alice was definitely having another vision. She nudged Alice with her elbow and coughed. A quick second later, Alice's gaze refocused, and smiled stiffly at Altheia.

"You're not going to Volterra, too, are you?" Alice's voice chimed nervously. Bella's eyes narrowed.

"Small world, but yes, I actually am." Altheia affirmed as the plane surged forward. She reached for a book and a music player from the leather satchel under her seat. "Anyhow, don't mind me, Bella and Alice." Alice nodded stiffly. "I'll just be reading here."

As Altheia settled comfortably with her book and earphones, Bella turned her attention to Alice. "What did you see, Alice? Is it Edward?"

Alice shook her head and bit her lip. "The Volturi, Bella." she said gravely.

Bella stiffened. "Edward... He told me... They're an old and powerful coven, like royalty. That Carlisle stayed with them for a while... and that you didn't mess with them unless... unless you wanted to die." Bella finished in a whisper. "What about the Volturi?"

"There were originally three - Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Two females joined them over time, and the five of them make up the family. I'm not sure, but I suspect that their age is what gives them the ability to live peacefully together. They're said to be well over three thousand years old. Or maybe it's their gifts that give them extra tolerance. Like Edward and I, Aro and Marcus are... talented." Alice started to massage her temples with her fingertips. "There were nine members of the guard that were permanent, the last time we heard. Others are more... transitory. It changes. And many of them are gifted as well– with formidable gifts, gifts that make what I can do look like a parlor trick. The Volturi chose them for their abilities, physical or otherwise." Bella gulped. "There's a reason he called them royalty... the ruling class. Over the millennia, they have assumed the position of enforcing our rules – which actually translates to punishing transgressors. They fulfill that duty decisively."

"And Edward's going to provoke them... so they'd... end him?"

Alice nodded nervously. "We may even be too late... I think I saw... I saw him ask Aro to kill him. But I think Aro offered him a place with the Guard instead. To which he refused."

"So we just have to get there in time! We just need to convince Edward I'm not dead–" yet, Bella wanted to add. "–that's all."

"Bella, listen to me. That's not what I saw just now." Alice held her firmly by the shoulders. "It was so clear. So certain. It looked like it was a future decided."

"What was?" She was getting confused now.

"Altheia." Alice whispered, gesturing to the woman absorbed in her reading nook. "She was there. In Volterra. Beside us. In front of the kings."

Bella gasped. "Alice, she's human! What the hell are you say—"

"Bella, listen to me." Alice locked gazes with her. "Whatever it is, with Altheia in the vision, Edward gets out. You get out. I get out. For the first time in my visions, nobody dies."

"Alice, are you... are you saying we should take her with us? She doesn't even know us! We'd be putting her in danger!" Bella hissed. "I am not doing this, Alice!"

"It doesn't seem like we have a choice," Alice murmurs as her hands drop from Bella's frame. Her eyes have glazed over again. "Altheia travels with us to Volterra. You and Altheia are running across Palazzo dei Priori. You stop Edward in time." Alice's eyes refocus and she takes out her cellphone. "Rest now, Bella. I have to tell Carlisle... whatever this is." She sighs, holding a hand up to Bella's face. "You're in-charge of getting her to go with us. Bella — this is not up for discussion."

With Alice now arguing over the phone, Bella's heart begins to thud against her chest. She focused on the woman sitting beside her, suddenly feeling guilty. Altheia, who was kind to her and Alice. Altheia, who had a Greek name. Altheia, who she met not even an hour ago! Altheia, who, probably, unlike her, had a human life not involving wanting to be a vampire. And being in love with a certain Edward who had depressive tendencies.

Bella's eyes started to moisten. Was she going to doom this woman, too?

"Hey, you okay?"

Bella snapped out of her reverie. Altheia was comforting her, book now closed, earphones plugged out.

The fact that she was genuinely kind made it a hundred times worse.

Was Edward worth this woman's life?

"I just," Bella's voice croaked, dangerously on the verge of crying. "I just really want to save Edward."

Altheia nodded slowly, slightly confused. "Okay... then you should go save Edward. Is he why you're going to Volterra? Is he in trouble?"

Bella didn't trust herself enough to speak. She nodded instead.

"Honestly, I'm just stopping by Volterra for the Saint Marcus parade. Then I'm going home to Campania." Altheia held Bella's hand comfortingly. "I can spare a few hours to help you with this Edward. It's no trouble."

Bella felt Alice pat her back. She ignored the gesture, closed her eyes, and tried to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

If this was how it had to be, then... Oh, Edward... You better wait for me, you stupid...

"Siamo angeli con un'ala sola, solo restando abbracciati possiamo volare." Altheia recited suddenly. Bella tried to blink back the tears. "We are angels with only one wing; by embracing each other are we able to fly." Altheia squeezed her hands tight. "You must believe in your Edward."

"Okay," Bella whispered softly after a moment of silence. Her lips wobbled. "...okay."

It was then that Bella stopped holding back. She hid her face in her palms, grit her teeth together, and sobbed.

»»—- ❈ —-««

As the plane circled around the clouds, preparing for its slow descent towards the city of Florence, Altheia couldn't help but reminisce. The last time she was in Italy, she was a nervous wreck. Having recently resigned from her post as assistant professor of law and philosophies at the University of Naples, armed only with her inheritance, two suitcases, and a flight plan to forty different capital cities spanning the seven continents, she was sure she would be shipped back to Italy after making headlines ("STUPID ITALIAN WOMAN FOUND AFTER 3 DAYS IN CANADIAN WILDERNESS"). It's not that she was an idiot, she just had the worst human brain GPS...

Even though she was coming home as a well-traveled twenty-eight-year-old, she would never risk her reputation by getting two Americans lost in her own home country.

"Bella, Bella." She gently nudged her Bella's arm as they descended from the plane. "I'm not sure I can drive us from Florence to Volterra."

Alice's laugh almost made her blush, until she noticed Bella's eyes had widened in realization.

"How are we getting to Volterra before lunch, Alice?"

Before lunch? Altheia checked her wristwatch. Accounting for the parade... Volterra was almost three hours away!

"Well of course I'm driving, Bella."

In all fairness, Altheia should have known from the maniacal glint in Alice's eyes and the look of horror that showed on Bella's face. Altheia swallowed nervously when Alice asked: "How opposed are the both of you to Grand Theft Auto?"

*The quote was by Luciano De Crescenzo.

Version 17 January 2021